Madison Wisconsin's Estate Planning Blog

If you have a revocable living trust, you probably named yourself as trustee so you can continue to manage your own financial affairs, but eventually, someone will need to step in for you when you are no longer able to act due to incapacity or after your death. Your successor trustee plays an important role in the effective execution of your estate plan.

The Key Takeaways:

●      Because successor trustees have a lot of responsibility, they should be chosen carefully.

●      Successor trustees can be your adult children, other relatives, a trusted friend, or a corporate or professional trustee.

Responsibilities of A Successor Trustee

At Incapacity: If you become incapacitated, your successor will step in and take full control of your trust for you - making financial decisions involving trust assets, even selling or refinancing assets, and other tasks related to your trust’s assets.
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If you have a revocable living trust, you probably named yourself as trustee so you can continue to manage your own financial affairs, but eventually, someone will need to step in for you when you are no longer able to act due to incapacity or after your death. Your successor trustee plays an important role in the effective execution of your estate plan.

The Key Takeaways:

●      Because successor trustees have a lot of responsibility, they should be chosen carefully.

●      Successor trustees can be your adult children, other relatives, a trusted friend, or a corporate or professional trustee.

Responsibilities of A Successor Trustee

At Incapacity: If you become incapacitated, your successor will step in and take full control of your trust for you - making financial decisions involving trust assets, even selling or refinancing assets, and other tasks related to your trust’s assets.
Read more . . .

We know it’s hard. Thinking about someone else raising your children can stop you in your tracks. It feels crushing and too horrific to consider. But you must. If you don’t, a stranger will determine who raises your children if something happens to you - your children’s guardian could be a relative you despise or even a stranger you’ve never met.
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When you establish a trust, you name someone to be the trustee. A trustee does what you do right now with your financial affairs - collect income, pay bills and taxes, save and invest for the future, buy and sell assets, provide for your loved ones, keep accurate records, and generally keep things organized and in good order.

The Key Takeaways

●      You can be trustee of your revocable living trust. If you are married, your spouse can be co-trustee.

●      Most irrevocable trusts do not allow you to be trustee.
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Every day we make hundreds of decisions from what to eat for breakfast to where we go on vacation.  With each passing day, there are more choices to be made.  But, what will happen if you can’t make decisions for yourself?  Before that time comes, there is one important decision you need to make. Who do you want to serve as your guardian?

For those of you who have had your estate planning recently done or reviewed, you probably discussed and executed a Financial Power of Attorney. For those of you on the fence about having your estate planning completed, this is another valuable reason why it is so crucial.
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If you have overheard any discussion about estate planning, you have likely heard the words “guardian” or “trustee” tossed around in the conversation. When it comes to estate planning, who will be ultimately in charge of your minor child is an important decision that requires consideration of many factors. Although there is no substitute for you as a parent, a guardian is essentially someone who steps in as a parent, assuming the parental role and raising the child through adulthood. A trustee, on the other hand, is in charge of managing the financial legacy that has been left behind for the minor.  As a parent, you need to take into account the characteristics needed for each role.
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While the term fiduciary is a legal term with a rich history, it very generally means someone who is legally obligated to act in another person’s best interests. Trustees, executors, and agents are all examples of fiduciaries. When you pick trustees, executors, and agents in your estate plan, you’re picking one or more people to make decisions in your and your beneficiaries’ best interests and in accordance with the instructions you leave. Luckily, understanding the basics of what each of these terms means and what to consider when making your choices can make your estate plan work far better.

Trustee

A revocable living trust is often the center of a well-designed estate plan because it is simply the best strategy for achieving most individuals’ goals.
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Cryptocurrencies have been making headlines as of late, with more and more investors wanting in on this digital currency. Cryptocurrencies are attractive because they are unregulated, decentralized, and anonymous. While secrecy is useful in some areas of life, when it comes to estate planning it can lead to disaster. Indeed, your entire cryptocurrency investment can essentially disappear into thin air the moment you pass away or become incapacitated. If you have not taken the proper steps to plan and protect these assets, your loved ones left behind have no way of accessing or recovering them.
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What constitutes a “large” gift can be relative. That being said, if you are considering giving cash or property to someone, a little bit of planning can really help avoid negative consequences.  This is particularly true if the gifted amounts are over $15,000.00, will be gifted in property, will be gifted on a regular basis, or if the gift givers -- whether parents or grandparents -- hold assets that are over $11 million.

Options for Making “Large” Financial Gifts

There are several options you have available to you and your family should you want to provide a large financial gift to your children or grandchildren.
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There is no question that having children changes everything -- and estate planning is no exception. If you and your spouse pass away or become legally incapacitated, and arrangements were never made in the event of such an emergency, your minor child or children will have to be placed with a new family. Not surprisingly, such a drastic change can be a disruptive process for minor children -- even if they are placed with members of your family. If you choose a guardian for your child in your will or other estate plan documents this difficult time can go much more smoothly.

Who Makes a Good Guardian?

A guardian for your minor child “steps into” your shoes in the event you can no longer care for him or her.
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If you’re thinking about giving your children their inheritance early, you’re not alone. Studies suggest that these days, nearly two-thirds of people over the age of 50 would rather pass their assets to the children early than make them wait until the will is read. It can be especially satisfying to fund our children’s dreams while we’re alive to enjoy them, and there’s no real financial penalty for doing so, provided that you structure the arrangement correctly.
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